Conroe to open entertainment complex spring 2005

Theater will anchor retail, dining venue

A slate of politicians and local elected officials turned ground with golden shovels recently, to officially break ground on a long-awaited, multiscreen Cineplex that will open next spring in Conroe.

The theater complex will anchor a multiuse shopping center facility, which will include other retail, dining and entertainment venues, on the corner of League Line Road and Interstate 45.

Once built, the complex will contain 14 screens with auditoriums seating between 100 and 300 moviegoers.

The groundbreaking was the first benchmark in the three-year process developer R.J. D'Agostino and theater owner George Solomon said it took to bring the project to town. The venture is the first of its kind in Conroe in more than 20 years.

Conroe has only one movie theater and its popularity has waned over the years with the construction of Tinseltown in The Woodlands.

Job opportunities

"We are very pleased to be here today and to be joining this great community," Solomon said. "This project will fill a market void here for the first time (in a long time).

"We are looking forward to bringing a facility to Conroe that will employ 120 part-time and five to seven full-time jobs to the city," he said.

Conroe Mayor Tommy Metcalf told the assembly the Cineplex project "is a very welcome addition to our city," telling Solomon and D'Agostino, "We appreciate very much what y'all are doing here and we cannot wait to go to the movies!"

Support in numbers

County Judge
Alan B. Sadler
said he had attended a (Greater Conroe/Lake Conroe Area)

Chamber of Commerce
presentation earlier in the day that said Conroe is set to be "the No. 1 growth area in Montgomery County over the next 10 years.

"Because of that, I can guarantee you're going to have great success here," Sadler said.

Among those taking part in the ceremonial groundbreaking was state Rep. Ruben Hope, R-Conroe, who said the movie complex is something his wife is particularly looking forward to.

"My wife can't go more than a week without going to the movies," Hope said, to chuckles from the crowd.

To D'Agostino and Solomon, Hope said, "This is a great thing you are are doing for the Montgomery County community, and I don't believe you could have picked a better place than here in Conroe to do this."

Panorama connection

The project is on the city's north side and backs up to the Panorama Village city limits.

Panorama Mayor Howard Kravetz said the project isn't the first experience his city has had with the D'Agostinos.

"About three years ago, the D'Agostinos came here and built Parkside Place just north of FM 830, but inside our city limits," Kravetz said. "That project may be small in comparison, but I can tell you that it is a first-class project, which has become a hallmark of the D'Agostinos' way of doing business.

"I'm sure this project will be similar in both quality as well as the contribution it will make to our communities, as all of the other D'Agostino projects."